Red-capped Robin, fires and anthill-art near Yuelamu

Over the past week I have been travelling out to Yuelamu. The dirt part of the road on the whole is pretty good. I found a waterhole (now dry) which is just after the last bit of bitumen on the Tanami Rd before the Yuelamu turnoff on a previous visit, and this week decided to stop there for a coffee and a quick look around. The small birds were everywhere. Thornbills, Fairy-wrens, Mistletoebirds, and Robins. The Hooded Robins were the first to show themselves but remained at a distance. The Red-capped Robins however were happy to scrounge around the trees near me and the one below seemed almost curious about my presence without getting too close:

As I turned off the Tanami onto the road to Yuelamu, I noticed some "Anthill Art" and rather than stop on the way, decided to try to get the image later on in the day. There are two that I saw, probably more if I took a bit more time, but very cleverly done:

As I neared Tilmouth Well, the plumes of smoke seemed to be getting thicker. I had seen smoke from fires on Napperby Station earlier, but it had seemed to be well away from the road. As I drove back to Alice Springs though, the burnoff was right next to the road, not dangerous, but together with the dust from oncoming traffic, well worthy of slowing down. I didn't see any wildlife scurrying away, but I did see a Brown Falcon sitting atop a dead branch near the fire and then lost sight as it swooped down to get something from the ground and off towards the hills to enjoy its meal.

It looks as though Alice Springs region will finally get some rain after more than 150 days of the dry spell. I haven't been noticing as many birds recently so hopefully some rain will bring them back into view.

Enjoy your Bird-watching!